The Therapist
March/April 2010

In 2009, the Licensed Professional Clinical Counselor licensure law was passed and signed here in California. For already licensed MFTs, grandparenting is available from January 1, 2011 through June 30, 2011. For interns who expect to be licensed before June 30, 2011, they too will have the option to apply for LPCC grandparenting. However, pre-licensed members who wish to obtain their LPCC license, and who are already in the pipeline (but will not be licensed by June 30, 2011) will need to adhere to specific education and experience requirements, as well as take the required licensing examinations.

(NOTE: This article is to assist pre-licensed MFTs with the LPCC requirements. For more information on the grandparenting of licensed MFTs specifically, please see “(Requirements for Licensure as Licensed Professional Clinical Counselors (LPCCs)” by Mary Riemersma, Executive Director.

For those who are outside of the grandparenting timeframe, the required education and experience is reviewed below. However, the specific regulations still need to be drafted by the Board of Behavioral Sciences. For example, can you count any and all supervised hours of experience towards both LPCC and MFT licensure? Will the BBS require national or state-developed examinations? Will the BBS allow more than one course to satisfy a particular required core course content area? These types of questions still need to be addressed. We will share that information as the process evolves. As to the general education and experience required, please see the summary below:i

Education Requirements:

• Masters or doctoral degree that is counseling or psychotherapy in content obtained from an accredited or approved institution containing not less than 48 graduate semester or 72 graduate quarter units of instruction.
• Three semester units or four and one-half quarter units of graduate study in each of following nine (9) areas: counseling and psychotherapeutic theories and techniques; human growth and development; career development; group counseling; assessment, appraisal, and testing of individuals; multicultural counseling; principles of the diagnostic process; research and evaluation; and, law and ethics.ⁱⁱ NOTE: An applicant whose degree is deficient in no more than two of the required nine (9) areas of study listed above, may satisfy those deficiencies by successfully completing post-master’s or postdoctoral degree coursework at an accredited or approved institution.
• A minimum of 12 semester units or 18 quarter units of advanced coursework to develop knowledge of specific treatment issues, special populations, application of counseling constructs, assessment and treatment planning, clinical interventions, therapeutic relationships, psychopathology, or other clinical topics.
• Six semester units or nine quarter units of supervised practicum or field study experience.ⁱⁱⁱ
• A minimum of 15 contact hours of instruction in alcoholism and other chemical substance abuse dependency.
• A minimum of 10 contact hours of training or coursework in human sexuality.
• A two semester unit or three quarter unit survey course in psychopharmacology (at an accredited or approved institution).
• A minimum of 15 contact hours of instruction in spousal or partner abuse assessment, detection, and intervention strategies.
• A minimum of seven contact hours of training or coursework in child abuse assessment and reporting.
• A minimum of 18 contact hours of instruction in California law and ethics (school coursework may count towards this requirement).
• A minimum of 10 contact hours of instruction in aging and long-term care.
• A minimum of 15 contact hours of instruction in crisis or trauma counseling.

For more specific information or required education content see the next article that quotes the law.

Experience Requirements:

• A minimum of 3,000 post-degree hours of supervised clinical mental health experience (under a qualified supervisor) related to the practice of professional clinical counseling, performed over a period of not less than two years (104 weeks).
• Not more than 40 hours in any seven consecutive days.
• Not less than 1,750 hours of direct counseling with individuals or groups in a clinical mental health counseling setting.
• Not less than 150 hours of clinical experience in a hospital or community mental health setting.
• Not more than a combined total of 1,250 hours in non-clinical hours including: direct supervisor contact; client-centered advocacy; not more than 250 hours of testing and clinical report writing; not more than 250 hours of workshops or trainings; and, not more than 300 hours (100 x 3) of personal psychotherapy.
• No hours of clinical mental health experience may be gained more than six years prior to the date the application for examination eligibility was filed.
• NOTE: For more specificity as to the experience requirements (which are very similar to the MFT licensing law), please see Business and Professions Code, Section 4999.46, which you can access at leginfo.ca.gov.
• Taking and passing the required licensing examinations.

For additional information or questions, please call the CAMFT Attorneys or Executive Director at 888-892-2638.

Catherine L. Atkins, JD, is the Deputy Executive Director at CAMFT. Cathy is available to answer members’ questions regarding business, legal, and ethical issues.

Endnotes

ⁱ This section shall apply to applicants for examination eligibility or registration who begin graduate study before August 1, 2012, and complete that study on or before December 31, 2018.
ⁱⁱ For specificity as to the content of the nine (9) core courses, please see “Requirements for Licensure as Licensed Professional Clinical Counselors (LPCCs)” by Mary Riemersma on the CAMFT website at www.camft.org.
ⁱⁱⁱL For specificity as to the content of the practicum, please see “Requirements for Licensure as Licensed Professional Clinical Counselors (LPCCs)” by Mary Riemersma on the CAMFT website at www.camft.org.